Sun and Moon
by Thunder Ninja
Summary: Ichigo and Rukia are just regular students. But what happens when they go to a dance together? Will sparks fly? How will their lives change from here on out? IchiRuki Ulquihime Ishihime HitsuHina RenRan GinRan HisagiRan
1. Rivers

Alright, this is my FIRST IchiRuki FanFic. Heck, it's my first fan fic. I know the beginning is really terrible but, whatever. Please review too!

Ichigo woke up, his forehead clammy and covered in sweat. Sitting up from his bed, he realized that he was breathing rather heavily and quickly, making his heart race. This damn nightmare had been going on for three weeks now and it never stopped from haunting him in his sleep. He felt drops of sweat hit his arm as he bowed his head down to look at his sheets glimmering pale silver from the moonlight outside his window. Every time he woke up, he instantly forgot his dream, leaving him confused, outraged and dumbfounded. He let out a frustrated grunt as he fell back onto his pillow, dreading the dream that would approach him once he drifted away from reality.

The next morning, he was awakened by the sound of clinks on his window. Opening his eyes slowly and yawning, he approached the window, seeing that small pebbles were being chucked at it with little force by none other than Rukia Kuchiki, a small girl with amethyst colored eyes and raven hair that went to her shoulders. Her expression showed that she was anxious and happy to see her friend looking out the window. Ichigo smiled down at Rukia and without wasting any time at all, he had pulled on his baggy shorts that went down to his knees, keeping on his white and blue T-shirt that he had worn to bed and rushed downstairs and bolted out the door to see that his friend was waiting for him.

Rukia was wearing a blue dress that went down slightly below her knees. Ichigo quickly went to her side, the sun shining brightly with the early summer morning air, the dew on the grass shimmering, giving them both a bit of a glow.

"Rukia," started Ichigo as they started walking down the sidewalk, "how've you been?"

"Great at the moment," she smiled as she said this, amethyst looking into the golden brown of Ichigo's eyes, "You know how I love the summer."

Ichigo laughed as he crossed the road with Rukia by his side, heading for the woods that the two had often visited every day during the summer. "How can I forget, every spring you keep counting down the days until summer officially starts!" his tone was light and cheerful. He was always so comfortable around Rukia and felt that he could share anything with her.

"Shut it, Carrot Top," she smirked as she punched Ichigo's arm, her face showing that she didn't really care. She too had the same sort of feeling while around him, like she could trust him with anything.

They continued walking for about three minutes until they reached the river that ran through the woods. Feeling the cracks of twigs and hearing leaves and rocks rustle under their feet both brought happiness and great memories to Ichigo and Rukia. They had been coming here since they were both ten year s old. Two large boulders that had been placed next to the river by the two were still there, sturdy as ever.

Rukia immediately sighed as she sat on the rock that she had claimed so many years ago, the sun would always hit that spot, giving her the warmth and pleasure of the sun's rays hitting her soft skin. Instead of arguing with Rukia at the time when they had both moved the rocks, he had learned from his father that letting a girl have what she wants is usually the way to go. As a replacement for sitting down next to Rukia, he just walked into the shallow end of the river, letting the cool water that was up to his ankles, run at a constant pace around his feet. He sighed as he felt a cool breeze hit him and he had slight Goosebumps around arms and neck. He loved the feeling of being in the water, like how he was at peace when he felt the cool liquid hit his skin. Just as he was going to go a step further, he felt the small, thin arms of Rukia around his neck, pulling herself up onto his back, demanding a piggy back ride without words. She giggled as he didn't protest and took a step further into the river.

Just then, a most evil, wicked idea had sprung into his mind, his face twisting into a devious smile. He kept walking further and further into the river until the water was almost to his waist. Rukia felt the cool water splash under her and realized what Ichigo was planning. She frantically started struggling and throwing a fit as he kept going deeper into the river. Ichigo was laughing maniacally in his head while keeping his face straight.

"Ichigo!" whined Rukia, her face looking around as the water soaked her butt and was continuing to go further, "Ichigo, let me down right now!"

This was exactly what he had been waiting for. Without another word out of her mouth, he dropped her into the water, the small splash was satisfying and made him chuckle lightly. Then, the unexpected happened. His feet gave way to a mossy rock he was standing on, resulting him to slip into the water himself, and every inch of his body to be soaked. He came back up to the surface, spitting out the river water, hearing Rukia's laughter at his fall. It was bound to happen sooner or later. He realized that when he started walking further and further into the depths of the river. He then realized how deep the water was and how Rukia was treading water to stay above the surface.

"Rukia, here," said Ichigo, holding out his hand to her, "take hold of me, you can't stand up, midget."

"Shut up, Strawberry" she retorted as she stuck out her tongue, taking his hand and being pulled to him. At that moment when their hands touched, a sudden lurch had arisen in both of their stomachs. As Rukia felt her hand touch Ichigo's skin, her heart skipped a beat when she felt the warmth of his skin on hers, her whole body feeling considerably warmer as she was dragged slowly to Ichigo's body through the water.

When Rukia's hand made contact with his own, Ichigo felt a small feeling of cool reach his hand and allowed some of his own warmth to hers. Without thinking, he pulled her close to his body, his arms suddenly wrapping around her, sharing his body heat with her, not realizing exactly what he was doing. He only intended to hold her hand and drag her out as he probably would, but something about the way he touched her or how he was now holding her in his arms made this different.

Amethyst met Gold again, seeing that each other's faces were a brighter red than a ripe tomato in Rukia's vegetable garden. Rukia wrapped her arms around Ichigo's neck as he started walking towards the shore. Each step seemed to bring him farther away from the shore. Rukia's arms were around his neck! His face was burning up hotter than the sun, almost feeling as if the water around him was beginning to boil.

When he reached the shore, his body soaking wet, he was still holding Rukia. When he came to this realization, he nearly dropped her small, fragile body.

"Umm, Ichigo?" she said, her voice almost at a whisper, "You can let me down now."

"Oh, r-right," he stuttered as he let her down onto her rock as she giggle softly making him blush even more than he was before, if it was possible. "We should probably head to my house to change,"

Rukia laughed as she looked down at her own soaking wet body. "Fine," she said "But I'll have to borrow some of your clothes again." She smirked as he looked at her, one eye brow up. His sisters hated it when she borrowed their clothes, so now she always had to borrow his clothes.

"Fine, you win," he scowled as she giggled. He still didn't understand why she always likes to wear his clothes. For one, they were way too big on her so she looked like an even smaller midget than usual, and they usually never got returned. He didn't mind though because he almost always snuck back into her house in the dead of night and got them back.

As they both exited from the thick woods, Ichigo was wondering what had happened in the water. He had always been just Rukia's friend, maybe even best friend. He hadn't considered her as more than that until now. He turned his head and looked at the small girl next to him, smiling and giggling. He never realized how pretty her eyes were, or how her small body looked so beautiful. Just then, Rukia turned her head to look at Ichigo. The sun couldn't have hit her more perfectly. The light hit her eyes, the amethyst eyes that he always had looked over before now were shimmering stones of beauty. The shine of her face as she smiled at him made him realize exactly how beautiful Rukia was. The shape of her body, small and petite and fragile. Her tiny, soft hands were folded together behind her back. He shook his head and went back to reality. She was her friend, that's it. But she looked so…

They arrived at Ichigo's house, leaving a trail of water behind them both. They both headed upstairs as Ichigo grabbed a towel for both of them from the bathroom. He grabbed a pair of smaller shorts and a light crystal blue shirt from his closet, handing them to Rukia as she smiled and headed to the bathroom to quickly change into his huge, warm clothes. While she was changing, Ichigo was drying himself off. She had finished much faster than him and the door was slightly open to Ichigo's room. Feeling curious, she peered into his room. She almost gasped from what she saw.

Ichigo was removing his wet shirt from his body, revealing his muscular body, wet and shiny from the sun. He pulled it off and shook his head, water droplets falling to the floor as he huffed. He wrapped the towel around him, drying himself off. As she watched, she realized how….how hot his body was. She never really saw this before. She had seen him with his shirt off many times before but never looked at him like this. Something about him today made him more masculine, macho and downright sexy. Her face was burning up as she turned away from the sight in front of her as he was beginning to remove his pants. How had she not seen him like this before? Was it because what happened in the river?

"Rukia, you almost done?" shouted Ichigo from his room. She quietly went to the bathroom door to make it seem like she was still in there.

"Yeah, I'm finished," she opened the door and closed it again. Just as she closed the door, Ichigo came out of his room and looked at her.

"You look more like a midget than ever, Rukia!" he snorted as he looked at her and stifled a laugh as she fired up.

"Shut up, Ichigo. If your sisters would let me borrow their stuff…" she started but as she looked down, she really did look more…midgety. The shorts were below her knees and the shirt was down to her elbows. She blushed as she pulled the pants up to go above her knees and rolled the sleeves up.

Ichigo continued to laugh as he went back into his room to get something. He came out with a belt from about three years ago. "Here, try this." He said handing it to her. She quickly put on the belt and muttered a thank you to Ichigo. "There, now you don't look so short."

It was about 12o'clock by the time they had gotten dry and dressed. Confusing emotions were running through both heads. They were both so confused about what was happening to them.

Ichigo was sitting next to Rukia on the couch while they were both watching T.V. but neither one was really paying attention to it.

"Ichigo, I'm so bored," said Rukia as she yawned, stretching. She leaned back on a pillow and eyed him expectantly.

"How 'bout we go take a walk through the town?" he suggested, not really caring what they did. She looked at him with a face that said, 'Really Ichigo? A walk?'

"Hey, if you have a better idea then fine," he said to her his lips curling as she giggled and got up.

"Well, you coming?" she asked as she slipped on her shoes and opened the front door. He got up slowly and pulled on his shoes and stepped of his house, Rukia pulling the door behind them.

The sun was shining just as brightly as before, warming them both as they both were walking down the sidewalk to the middle of town. They kept walking until they walked by a flyer that caught Ichigo's eye, causing him to stop in his track and take a look. It was a dark blue and golden orange color swirled together in a mystical pattern. In silvery letters, the poster read 'The Heaven's Dance'. Judging by the poster, it was supposed to be in three days from now, on Saturday. It was held at Mr. Urahara's mansion at the edge of town from 8 P.M. to 2 A.M.

Rukia noticed that Ichigo was staring at the poster and backed tracked to where he was. She read the poster and smiled widely.

"Doesn't that sound fun, Ichigo?" she said looking up at him. He couldn't say no, he did love dancing, but with Rukia? Why did that seem like a bad idea?

"Yeah, sounds fun I guess…" he said looking away from the poster and standing up. He then thought of what had happened earlier in the woods that day. "Hey, you wannna go with me?" he said without thinking before. 'Like she'd go with me,' thought Ichigo.

Rukia was blushing lightly as she stood up as well. "Sure Ichigo, I'd love to go with you" she nodded and realized that she had said that she would love to go with him. 'Why did I say love?' she wondered as Ichigo smiled slightly.

After walking around for awhile and escorting Rukia home, Ichigo was wondering why he had asked Rukia to go to the dance with him. Did he really have feelings for her now? Or was it just his mind playing tricks on him. He walked home and saw that his dad was watching T.V. on the couch.

"Hey dad," started Ichigo, "Um, can I ask you something?"

"You just did," smirked his dad as he turned his head from the T.V.

"Ugh, you know what I mean. I was wondering if I could borrow a suit to wear this Saturday?" said Ichigo as he rolled his eyes

"Ah, you going to the Heaven's dance?" said his dad, smiling as Ichigo looked away from him, hiding his slightly blushing face.

"Yeah, so do you have a suit, old man?" he said without looking at his father. He heard his dad get up from the couch and head upstairs and within a minute or so, he came back down with a black suit and navy vest.

"I wore this to my first dance with your mom," he said, staring off into space. "Then I got to big right after that so now I can't fit into it."

"Thanks dad," he rushed upstairs to put the suit in his closet and laid on his bed, seeing the sun set outside his window. He sighed as he looked up at his ceiling, wondering how the dance would go on Saturday. He thought about how Rukia instantly agreed to going with him, not really hesitating to answer. "She's my friend, that's all!" he said to himself, if saying it out loud would help it sink in.

Meanwhile at Rukia's house, she was laying on her bed, staring at the dark ceiling above her. Her heart was pounding as she thought of the dance. Why did she say yes? Why did she want to go with him so badly? She grunted and flipped over on her pillow, her face buried into it. Was it love?

There was a knock at her door, and a tall figure with black hair and grey eyes. He looked stern and calm as he looked at his sister.

"Rukia," he said as he walked into her room, "You are going to the Heaven's dance with Ichigo Kurosaki, am I correct?"

"Byakuya!" she gasped as she saw him walk into her room. She was still wearing his clothes. She blushed and tried to hide the clothes from her older brother's cold eyes, but she was unsuccessful. He scanned her body as she pulled the sheets up to her eyes, trying to hide her face from the shame.

"Is is that obvious?" she said as she pulled the covers down from her face, showing her bright red face. Rukia was embarrassed and ashamed that she was going with Ichigo because Byakuya never liked him in the first place and now that she was going to a dance with him did not help the situation at all. "Please don't get mad, Nii-sama!"

Byakuya just looked at Rukia with a quizzical look in eyes and shook his head.

"You know I don't like that Kurosaki boy, Rukia," he said with cold eyes. His eyes were piercing hers like daggers. She couldn't handle the dark gaze that he was giving her. She pulled the covers back up to her face as hot tears began to fall down her cheeks. She made no noise while crying, trying to hide it from her brother but the more she tried to hide it, the louder she got. She was crying uncontrollably now, her eyes become puffy and red. Then she felt a sinking feeling at the bottom of her bed. She looked up, wiping her tears and she looked in her brothers eyes. They were still that cool grey color but not as harsh.

"Nii-sama, I know you don't like him but," she managed to say but the rest of her words were lost when she began to sob again.

Byakuya got up again, and left the room. She flopped down into her pillow and cried her heart out. But Byakuya returned to her room with a long, thin box, about the size of Rukia.

"This was your sisters, Hisana's dress, Rukia," he started. Rukia looked up at the words of her now diseased sister. "This is the dress she wore during our first dance," he opened up the box to reveal a stunningly beautiful dress that looked like it would go down to Rukia's ankles. It was a dark blue, silky dress with a white sash that when put on, would go around her waist. Rukia could imagine her sister in this dress, dancing elegantly with her brother for the first time.

"Nii-sama, why are you giving this to me?" she asked in a quiet whisper, still gazing at the dress.

"I promised Hisana to give you this dress when the time was right," he said, handing the open to Rukia, and getting up to leave the room. Just as he was about to close the door, Rukia stopped him.

"Thank you, nii-sama," she whispered as she smiled up to him. He merely just gave grunt and walked away. When she was sure that he was out of ear shot, she squealed loudly and rushed to try on her sister's old dress that was now in her hands.


	2. Engaged and Rabbits

So, here is chapter two. I hope you all like it. I didn't really like how it turned out, but hey, I can always fix it.

Ichigo woke up with a sticky forehead again, panting heavily while he sat straight up again. It was that same dream that gave him that unnerving feeling but he was still hanging with that twisting feeling in his stomach. He punched his pillow in frustration. He didn't remember anything and it was really bugging him at this point, not knowing what possible things his unconscious mind was coming up with. He fell back onto his pillow to face another sleepless night.

Rukia woke up, yawning and stretching and opening her eyes slowly. Butterflies were in her stomach but she didn't exactly know why. But then it hit her of yesterday's previous events and the feeling of happiness and nervousness. She giggled slightly as she smiled to herself and shivered.

"He's mine," whispered Rukia to her Chappy plushie that she was holding so close to herself. She got up and just couldn't stop smiling and feeling so happy. She now realized how much she really loved Ichigo. But what if he didn't feel the same? She let her face fall as she came upon this thought. If he didn't feel the same, then… what would happen at the dance?

'No Rukia, you have to think of the positives' she said to herself. She got up and opened the door to her closet, seeing the beautiful dress that her sister wore so long ago.

"IIICHIIIGOOO!" there was a yell from his father as he was lunging to tackle his 'sleeping' son. Ichigo drew back his arm and let it go with full swing, punching his father square in the stomach.

"What the hell? What kind of father gives a wakeup call like that?" he yelled at his father, now on the ground, holding his stomach.

"What's wrong with a lively morning?" he retaliated as he smirked and held his stomach harder. "You really pack a punch!"

"Whatever, old man," he rolled his eyes as he stepped on his dad's face, hearing a muffled grunt.

"You only have two days left, you know," said Isshin as he stood up, holding his nose. "You don't have much time left!"

"Like I said," Ichigo turned around only to give a kick to his father's stomach, "whatever, old man."

Ichigo's dad flew backwards, hitting the wall while Ichigo swung open the door to go into the hall to get his breakfast.

When he entered the kitchen, a familiar smell of pancakes and maple syrup hit his nose and he inhaled deeply through his nose and sighed. He saw his younger sister, Yuzu, in a pink apron, tending to the pan with breakfast in it. Karin, her twin sister was sitting on the couch in the other room, watching television, mostly channel surfing.

Yuzu turned around as she heard the footsteps into the kitchen, seeing her brother walk in lazily.

"Ichigo, I made pancakes with strawberries," she started while tending to the pancakes, "I hope you like them, onee-san."

"Thanks Yuzu, I bet they taste great," Ichigo said while sitting down to eat his stack of strawberry pancakes, pouring whipped cream on them. Taking his knife and fork to begin to cut his pancakes, he noticed that Karin was being less critical of Yuzu than usual. He turned around only to see that Karin was gone from the couch.

Ichigo quickly finished his pancakes and cleaned his dishes only to realize that it was almost time to go find Urahara and Yoruichi.

Ichigo grabbed his shoes and slipped them on and left his house without a word to his family. He walked to a small shop in town called "Urahara's". Urahara was a family friend of the Kurosaki's for as long as Ichigo could remember. Urahara had been more of an uncle, but Urahara saw Ichigo as a son. When Ichigo couldn't get good advice from his father, he always went to Urahara, and he usually gave him good advice. He had also taught Ichigo how to spar and how to fight.

Recently, Urahara had started dating a woman named Yoruichi. She was tall and beautiful but it seemed like they weren't a couple, but it worked for them. They seemed like a happy couple but Ichigo wondered if something was going on between the two of them.

Ichigo went in through the back door of the small shop, to see Urahara and Yoruichi together, on the floor. Yoruichi had her head on Urahara's shoulder and he was petting her, almost as if she was a cat.

"Ichigo, what a surprise!" said Urahara, looking up at him, still petting Yoruichi.

"Hey Urahara, how are you?" Ichigo asked while taking a seat on the floor.

"Great at the moment," he said and looked at the woman next to him.

"Ichigo have you not heard?" Yoruichi asked, sitting up. When she did this, the man in the striped hat looked disappointed to see that she was no longer on his shoulder.

"Wait," Ichigo was confused about what was going on. "What's happened?"

Yoruichi smiled and held up her hand to reveal a rather large diamond ring on her slim finger. Ichigo looked at Urahara and he looked at Yoruichi to see that her arms were beginning to slink up to Urahara's neck quickly. Ichigo looked away from the couple, making a disgusted look on his face as he heard the kissing between the two. Urahara laughed as he pulled Ichigo back towards them.

"We're sorry Ichigo, she's just really excited about the whole thing," said Urahara as he looked at Yoruichi with a loving face while Ichigo made a gagging noise and Yoruichi laughed as she put her head on his shoulder again

"You'll understand one day, when you find you're true love, Ichigo," said Yoruichi, giggling while Ichigo started to blush brightly and looked away. If he told about Rukia now, Yoruichi would just burst out laughing.

"Well, you see Ichigo," started Urahara, kissing her forehead, "the minute I finally saw Yoruichi more than a friend, I knew from the start that she was the one that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with."

"That's the reason I came here, Kisuke," Ichigo began to blush as he said this, and Yoruichi instantly perked up and smiled slightly. Ichigo knew what was coming, but was prepared for the worst. "I really like this girl and I ended up asking her to the Heaven's Dance on Saturday," his voice trailed away as he saw a smile on Urahara's face and a suppressed laugh on Yoruichi's.

"Ichigo, who is it?" asked Urahara.

"Rukia Kuchiki, she's in my class and we've been friends for awhile now," said Ichigo, still blushing madly. Just then a laugh came from Yoruichi as she held her sides, falling over to the ground, in fits of laughter.

"Ichi-ichigo...Rukia… Kuchiki?" her stifled laughs were barely audible but non-the-less, he understood every word that she was saying. Her laugh attack was causing her to start to tear up, tears flowing down her face fast and they just kept coming and coming, and there was no stop to them. Ichigo was blushing as he hid his face behind his hands.

"Don't worry Ichigo," said Urahara over the laughing woman's squeals, "just be yourself and she'll love you just the same… Well that's what happened to me and Yoruichi."

"I just hope that Rukia will like me for who I am," said Ichigo. He now thought of the possibilities of Rukia didn't have the same feelings for him, but he pushed them aside. Yoruichi was breathing heavily as she tried to regain her sanity.

"Ichigo, who couldn't like you?" started saying, hiccupping while she said this. "You're tall, handsome and a great guy. Sure you sulk around a lot and you just keep to yourself and you never show your emotions but that's not the point." Urahara elbowed her in the stomach at the words handsome. "Oh come off it, Kisuke, you know I only have eyes for you," she smiled and kissed his nose as he laughed. "What I'm trying to say, is that there's no way in hell she won't love you."

"She's right Ichigo," said Urahara, smiling towards the woman now on his lap, "Byakuya's sister would defiantly fall for you, if she hasn't already."

Ichigo hadn't thought of this before. Did she already like him or was he just too stupid to notice anything. Did she ever give him clues or was she just shy about it. But it didn't matter as long as he got to hold her in his arms.

"Oh Byakuya?" Yoruichi looked up at his name, "I used to date him when we were in high school!"

Urahara raised an eyebrow as she giggled. He obvious didn't like what he was hearing.

"Kiskuke, you're so jealous!" she scolded him playfully and he couldn't keep a straight face at her words. He smiled and kissed her forehead. Ichigo was getting sick of this whole lovey dovey act between the two.

"Well, that helps a bit," Ichigo said as he stood up to leave, "Thanks for the help, and congratulations again. Tell me when the wedding is."

"We'll see you at the heavens dance, Ichigo, look out for us!" called Yoruichi as he turned to leave the couple. He left the shop with his hands in his pockets, not really paying attention to where he was going, just walking aimlessly. He thought to himself how shocking it was to see Kisuke with a woman, he was always the flirty with women and Ichigo couldn't see him staying with one woman for the rest of his life. But, the most unlikely always become a couple. He thought of his mother and laughed to himself when he thought of his dad and his mother being in love, his dad being so accident prone and his mother so graceful. He wondered how they actually fell in love.

"Rukia! Wait for me!" A girl with long orange hair and large breasts was running after Rukia, huffing after her. She finally caught up to Rukia who had run ahead to the pet shop. When Orihime had finally found Rukia by the rabbits, she was looking into the little hut that they were in, almost like a chicken coup, but filled with small rabbits. Rukia peered into hut, eyeing each rabbit. She was smiling widely and put her arms in the coup to pull up a small, pure white rabbit. Orihime smiled at Rukia. She knew that Rukia had a huge thing for rabbits and Orihime never got in the ways of Rukia and her rabbits.

"Rukia," started Orihime, "We do need to get going if we are going to get to the park on time."

Rukia looked up to her, the small white rabbit in her arms, curled up and sleeping. She smiled as she pet the small rabbit and put it back in the small pen with the rest of the rabbits.

"Rukia, you really love rabbits, don't you?" asked Orihime, laughing slightly at her friend as Rukia smiled and simply nodded.

"Orihime, are you going to the Heavens Dance?" asked Rukia shyly as she blushed. Orihime blushed as well and nodded.

"I am, with Uryuu Ishida," said Orihime as she giggled lightly, "he asked me yesterday." Rukia squealed and hugged Orihime as she squealed also.

"Oh Orihime," said Rukia "that's so exciting! I've always told you he liked you back!"

Orihime laughed as they both walked out of the pet shop, simply walking where their legs took them. "I knew he liked me, just that neither of us had the guts to ask the other one out," Orihime said this while she giggled again. "But who are you going with?"

At these words, Rukia stopped walking as her heart started to race again. "Oh, just that strawberry head. Ichigo, but we're going as friends."

Orihime screamed at the words Ichigo and jumped up and down in excitement as she held both of Rukia's hands with her own. Rukia felt like jumping up and down with her friend but she knew if she did, she would give away the obvious fact that she liked him.

"Rukia! You should've said that when you saw me! Oh this is so exciting!" started Orihime, speaking fast and she didn't stop jumping up and down.

"We're only going as friends," Rukia yelled at Orihime, but in a jokingly way, laughing a bit. "I told you, we've been best friends since I can remember, I don't like him like that." When she said this, her stomach turned and twisted a bit because she knew this was a lie. It seemed like when she lied about her feelings, she usually showed it in her face, but she tried the best to hide it. "Besides, last time I checked, he didn't like anyone," her heart stopped when she said this. As much as she hated to admit it, she knew that it was true. Her heart slightly made a jolt.

"Oh that doesn't matter," said Orihime, "I bet after the dance, both of you will be madly in love with each other and maybe even kiss," Orihime nudged Rukia at these words and laughed.

"I'm not so sure about that, Orihime," joked Rukia, "Why would he even like a short midget like me?"

"How can he _not_ like you!" she gasped at these words dramatically and her eyes widened. "You are amazing! Beautiful, small, petite and adorable!"

"Psh, I'm not that great," said Rukia, rolling her eyes and laughing. They both laughed together and realized it was already after four o'clock. They both said their goodbyes and went their separate ways.

As Rukia was walking home by herself, she remembered the feeling in her stomach when she said that Ichigo didn't like anyone at the moment. Her stomach lurched and made an unpleasant noise that sounded like when you step in mud with your bare foot, the squelching sound that you hear when your stomach is begging to fed. 'Is it true? Does he really not like anyone?' it would have given her hope if she knew that he liked someone and she could prove to him that she was the right choice instead of the nameless girl that he did like. She shivered at this thought and shook her head.

Without realizing it, she had made it home, but the sun was much lower in the sky then when she had remembered. She must have been just walking aimlessly around town for at least an hour. She sighed and went inside to see her brother wasn't inside. She went up to her room and laid on her bed, and just wanted to sleep and only awake if Ichigo truly loved her. Then she drifted away to sleep even though it was so early in the day.


	3. Lunch

Ichigo woke up the next morning, feeling relieved that he didn't have that haunting dream that had been causing him grief for the last few weeks had not been in his sleep this past night. But then he realized that it was one day closer to the dance and he still had no idea what his feelings were toward Rukia. The more he thought about her, the more she seemed more attractive. He remembered her small and fragile body, her hips and her hour glass figure, and her eyes. Her eyes were what captivated Ichigo. He imagined gazing into her violet eyes and getting lost in them. He sighed as he closed his eyes, seeing Rukia in his minds eyes and himself next to her, holding her hand and laughing. He saw that Rukia, as short as she was, trying to get on her tip toes to kiss Ichigo's cheek. He bent down and laughed as she kissed it.

"Ichigo!"

His eyes immediately shot open, his fantasy being washed away by the screams of Keigo who was accompanied by Chad, Uryuu, Renji and Toshiro. He rolled his eyes as he proceeded downstairs, grabbing his jacket to join his friends.

"So Toshiro, you gunna ask Momo to the dance?" Renji snickered as Keigo laughed along with him. Uryuu was standing still, not really paying attention to the excitement.

"For the last time, I do _not_ like Hinamori! She's just a friend," growled Toshiro, his face becoming as red as a bright tomato. He was fuming as Renji continued laughing.

"Toshiro, we all know that you like Hinamori" said Chad in his deep voice, smiling as Renji had tears in his eyes from laughing so hard. Ichigo chuckled as he headed towards his group of friends, kicking Renji abit in the shin.

"You shouldn't bug Shiro about Momo, Renji," said Ichigo as he nudged Toshiro in the side, "What about Rangiku? We all know you along with Hisagi and Gin have been crushing on her for the longest time."

"Hey!" snarled Renji as his face turned the same color as his hair, "I thought we'd agreed to not talk about that again!"

"Oh come off it," laughed Toshiro, "You've been crushing on her since you saw her."

"Yeah Renji, even she knows it," said Chad in his low voice, scaring Keigo so much that he jumped backwards.

"Jeeze Chad, give us a warning when your gunna speak up!" Keigo whined. Chad only grunted in response.

"Uryuu," started Toshiro, "I heard somewhere that you finally grew the balls to ask out Orihime."

"Woah, I hadn't heard this," said Renji as he finally cooled down from the taunts.

"Well yes," Uryuu said simply, "It was simple really. I walked up, asked her, she said yes, and I told her that I'd pick her up at 7:00 for dinner."

"Wow Uryuu," said Ichigo, "I didn't know you had the hots for Miss Orihime!"

"Psh," scoffed Toshiro. He folded his arms and leaned against the fence. "Let's hope Ulquiorra doesn't hear about this. I heard he's got a thing for Inoue too. He'd beat the daylights out of you if you're not careful, Uryuu. He may not look like it, but that guy packs a punch. You should've seen what he did to Jaegerjaquez."

Everyone was listening intensely, not daring to breath as they listened to Toshiro's story about Ulquiorra.

"Grimmjow was just walkin in the halls, when Ulquiorra bumped into him while heading to his next class. Next thing you know, Grimmjow had him by the neck! Ulquiorra just stood there looking at him like he wasn't giving a shit about it but Jaegerjaquez was telling him to apologize but Ulquiorra wouldn't have it. Next thing I know, I see Ulquiorra punch Grimmjow in the gut and then he kicked him in the face and left, just like that." Toshiro finished, almost out of breath when he was done. Everyone looked at eachother, not knowing what to say.

"Damn," Renji whistled, "Who knew that Cifer was such a bad ass?"

"Who knew he could fight. He's way too quiet to fight." Said Ichigo, looking amazed. He'd never thought that someone like Ulquiorra Cifer had the ability to take on a punk like Jaegerjaquez.

"Well, I'm not scared of Cifer because I know if he tries to hurt me, then Orihime would be angry at him," Uryuu said with confidence in his voice, pushing up his glasses with his middle finger slightly.

"Well there's a problem with that, Ishida," said Renji, eyeing Uryuu. "How do you know that Inoue doesn't like Cifer more than you?"

"I'm certain that Orihime agreed to go with me because she does have feelings for me, I can assure you, Abarai." Uryuu said as he rolled his eyes at Renji.

"You never know," said Keigo, "maybe she agreed because no one had asked her yet."

"Keigo, there are plenty of men out there who would have asked Inoue to the dance and she obviously picked me."

"Ichigo, who are you going with anyway?" asked Toshiro, trying to change the subject. Ichigo's heart stopped as he remembered about Rukia. He saw her smiling, laughing and just being beautiful.

"Yo, Ichigo," shouted Renji, "who are you going with?"

"Oh, just Rukia, but just as friends," he said simply, shrugging slightly. Renji smirked. Toshiro laughed. Keigo's jaw dropped. Chad nodded in his direction. Uryuu chuckled. Ichigo grimaced.

"What?" Ichigo looked confused as he saw his friends' reaction.

"Oh, nothing Ichigo," said Renji, still smirking. "You just keep telling yourself that you two are going 'just as friends'."

"Ichigo! I was gunna ask Rukia!" Keigo pouted.

"It was a matter of time before you two started having a thing." Said Uryuu, looking at Ichigo with a ghost of a smile.

"I told you guys, we're going just as friends!" Ichigo yelled at them but Renji kept laughing.

"Ichigo, it's obvious, even I can tell," said Chad as Ichigo looked up to him, stunned. Never had he thought that Chad would have said anything like that.

"See Ichigo, even Chad can tell!" blurted Renji, trying regain breath as he wiped tears from his eyes.

Then a blue van pulled up in front of Ichigo's house with a roar. The driver was Mizuiro, the only one that Ichigo trusted to drive him.

"Finally Mizuiro," said Keigo, "We've been waiting forever!"

"Calm down Keigo, it's only been 15 minutes." Retorted Toshiro.

Ichigo along with his group of friends, hopped in the car one by one, crowding each other. Ichigo sat in between Toshiro and Renji in the back of the car, finding it hard to keep his personal space. As they were driving, Ichigo had thought about his friends and their reactions to him going with Rukia to the Dance. Was it really that obvious that he and Rukia had a thing for each other? Was it clear that he liked her more than a friend? He didn't know his emotions could show through him so easily. Just then he felt a buzz from his back pocket from his cell phone. He reached in his back pocket and pulled out his phone. The little screen read 'Rukia'. He then had a mini panic attack. If Renji or Toshiro saw he was texting her, it would give them all the more reason to keep bugging him about it, and Ichigo didn't need any more crap from anyone about Rukia. He quickly opened his phone to see the message.

"_Hey Strawberry. Me, Orihime, Rangiku, Tatsuki and Momo are going to meet up with you boys. See you! :) Rukia"_

He read the message quickly, looked to see if Toshiro or Renji were looking at it, but thankfully they were engaged in a heated argument about whether or not Toshiro should ask Momo to the dance. It was more Renji pestering Toshiro to ask her, with Toshiro protesting to the idea.

"_Hey Midget. Can't wait to see you there. Ichigo."_

Just as he was pressing the center button to send the message, Renji peered over to see who exactly he was texting. Ichigo looked up to see a smirk rise on Renji's lips and knew that he saw something that indicated Ichigo and his phone. He wasn't sure if he had actually read the message because Ichigo knew that everyone knew that he called Rukia a midget. If He was caught texting Rukia, all hell would break loose and he would be in deep shit. Ichigo stumbled to put his phone back in his pocket, hoping Renji wouldn't say a word. When Ichigo pocketed his cell, he looked up to Renji. Surprisingly, Renji just nodded his head and went back to his taunting. Ichigo was shocked that Renji hadn't just yelled out that he was texting Rukia, confessing his love. But then again, Renji wasn't _always_ like that. It seemed like he understood the circumstances in which Ichigo was now placed, and chose not to say anything.

After hearing enough of Renji and Toshiro, Ichigo took both of his enormous hands and covered their mouths. After hearing that Toshiro was a wimp and that Renji being an idiot, he was done hearing their bickering.

"Listen, both of you," he growled as he looked from one to the other, "Keep this up and I might just make sure neither of you speaks again. I got a head ache the size of a mountain, and if you guys keep it up, it won't get any better."

Everyone in the car grew silent as he said this. Renji and Toshiro looked at each other, then at Ichigo and both nodded. Both of their eyes were as big as softballs and neither of them wanted to get on the bad side of an angry Ichigo. Ichigo removed his hands from their mouths and smiled.

"You guys sure are loud," he chuckled as he leaned his head back a bit. Ichigo always found it amusing to scare the living daylights out of friends to see their reactions. Ichigo could really beat up everyone if they pissed him off. Everyone knew that, so no one messed with him except those who were asking for suicide when challenging him. But either way, he never used his strength against his friends at all because he actually valued their lives.

They arrived at their destination, a small restaurant that served traditional Japanese food. The boys all got out of the cramped car and headed into the building, looking for a large enough table or booth to hold them all.

That's when Ichigo saw her. Rukia was at a round booth on the other side of the restaurant, wearing a white collar shirt with brightly colored butterflies at the bottom, slowly fading as you looked up the shirt. She was smiling and laughing with her friends. He noticed that the seat next to her was empty. He quickly headed to their table to claim the spot next to her.

"Yo, Ichigo!" shouted Keigo, "You found the girls?"

Ichigo responded by quickly sliding next to Rukia and accidently bumping into her doing so. At their touch, he blushed madly, blood rushed to his face. Looking at Rukia, he noticed that she too, was blushing.

"Baka!" she said, "don't you know that it's rude to bump into girls, strawberry?" she scolded him as a smirk curled up from her lips only slightly.

"Oh Rukia," giggled Momo, "We _all_ know you were just waiting for that to happen!" All of the girls giggled as Rukia blushed even more and her temper only grew.

"Oh Rangiku," said Rukia smugly, "You should scoot over so Momo's little Shiro-chan can sit next to her."

Momo blushed and playfully pushed Rukia as all of them laughed. Inside Ichigo's mind, he was wondering why they were laughing instead of trying to beat the crap out of each other. He shook off the thought and decided to let it slide.

"You could at least have told us that you found them, Ichigo." Complained Keigo.

"Meh," shrugged Ichigo, "I thought you'd be able to find them yourself, Keigo. You're a big boy and don't need me to guide you around anymore. Or am I sadly mistaken?"

At this, everyone laughed as Keigo scowled. The boys sat down with menus in their hands, looking at drinks. As Ichigo was looking at the menu, he realized he was sitting next to Rukia rather closely, not giving him a lot of room to move. He was in between Toshiro and Rukia and he was being squished between the two midgets. He tried to re-adjust himself into a more comfortable position, but managed to get even closer to Rukia. He blushed only slightly at the awkward position he was in but brushed it off. He continued to skim over the menu and didn't see anything that really appealed.

"Ichigo, you want to split spaghetti with me?" asked Rukia, not looking up from her menu. Ichigo looked at the menu, searching for the spaghetti. As he began reading the description, he received a kick in the shin from Renji and he looked up. Renji gave him a look that said that it was a good idea to get it, but it was weird. He had the expression of someone trying to hide something extremely hysterical.

"Yeah, that sounds fine with me," Ichigo said with a mono-tone voice. He heard giggles coming from Orihime and Momo. A snicker was heard as Rukia spoke up.

"Oh ha ha. You guys are just as mature as an 11 year old," Rukia rolled her eyes. Ichigo didn't understand what was going on but decided to ask later.

"Rukia," sneered Rangiku, "you know that we're just speaking the truth."

Rukia blushed and hid under her menu. Ichigo glanced at Renji and gave him a look that said 'What the hell is going on?' but Renji shrugged and continued to look at his menu. Ichigo closed his menu and leaned back in the booth. He could see that Rukia was still pissed and her ears were tinted with the slightest red when she put down her menu. He stifled a chuckle as he kept looking at her. Then his stomach lurched. Butterflies had appeared.

"Are you ready to order?" asked the waiter, eyeing the giggling Momo and Rangiku. As everyone ordered, Ichigo's butterflies had disappeared without a trace. When it came time for him and Rukia to order their food, Rukia had already taken care of it.

"Hey Momo," Toshiro said as he looked down at the floor.

"Yeah?" replied Momo as she looked at him with a confused look.

"I was thinking," he started, his face turning a light pink, "I was thinking that you and I could, I mean if you aren't doing anything on Saturday, that you and me could-" Toshiro was cut off by Momo, her hand now attached to his mouth.

"Yes, I'll go with you, if you just stop blabbering like that, Shiro-chan." Ichigo could see a smile on Toshiro's face and then was deafened by Rukia's squeal of joy and Renji's snicker.

Ichigo was thankful that he didn't ask Rukia in front of everyone like that. He wondered how the hell Toshiro had done it without nearly pissing his pants. Ichigo knew just as well as Toshiro did that after lunch, everyone would be giving him shit about what had just happened, and he wasn't about to be let off the hook for about the next few centuries. Toshiro, however was distracted by all of the snickering from the boys and smiling with Momo, wrapping his hands around her.

"God, just get a room you two!" sneered Renji. Matsumoto laughed heartily as Momo stuck her tongue out at Renji.

"I don't see that _you_ have anyone to go with, Pineapple head," laughed Momo. Renji blushed violently, but quickly recovered.

"Momo, you and I both know that I could get a date just as easily as you did."

"Oh really?" she raised an eyebrow, "and how exactly are you going to do that?"

"Like this." he sneered. He then did something that no one saw coming. Everyone went silent when he placed his lips onto Rangiku's, her eyes wide and in a state of shock, but she wasn't stopping the red head from kissing her. To Ichigo's surprise, Rangiku was kissing back with what it looked like, passion. Ichigo saw Renji wrap his arms around her while she was putting her hands around his neck, closing the space between them. Then Ichigo saw the unexpected. He saw for the shortest moment, a flash of Rangiku's tongue slip into Renji's mouth. Finally, Toshiro had the sense to yell at them and they immediately pulled away from each other, blushing madly.

Ichigo looked around, horrified yet amazed at the scene he and all of his friends had just witnessed. Rukia, Uryu, Tatsuki and Orihime all looked disgusted at Renji, while Keigo, Mizurio, Toshiro and even Chad all looked like they just got slapped in the face. But Momo's reaction was possibly the most evident to Ichigo. Her mouth was open, stammering incoherently while looking at Renji, then to Rangiku, then back to Renji. The look on her face was one to match someone who had just seen someone other than herself kissing Toshiro; angry, assaulted, confused, shocked and dumbfounded.

"So, do you want to go to the dance with me?" Renji said this to break the silence, other than the mumbling of Momo.

"Er," said Rangiku, "after that whole charade, I guess I have no choice but to say yes!"

Orihime, Rukia, Tatsuki and especially Momo all looked like they had saw pigs fly. Ichigo watched as Renji was sneering at Momo.

"Renji Abarai," she finally piped up, "you are possibly the most revolting, disgusting excuse for a man that I have had the misfortune to meet." She then smiled sweetly and rested her head on Toshiro's shoulder.

Renji's face couldn't have been more shocked. This time, it was him that was stuttering and mumbling.


	4. No Flare Guns Allowed

**Sorry that this is so late! I had to start the school year and everything. Thank you so much for the reviews! Here is the next chapter. Its kind of short, but That was the only good stopping point I had. **

Besides the fact that Rangiku and Renji were kissing the whole lunch, the meal was actually very good. Toshiro and Momo were both stealing smiles and laughs during the whole meal, but no one minded. Rukia couldn't believe that Ichigo didn't get the whole spaghetti reference. She chuckled to herself as Orihime dropped her off at her home, Byakuya's car absent from the driveway.

When she closed the door to her house, she called out to see if anyone was home. When she got no answer, she mentally screamed and ran up to her room, giggling and dialing up Momo.

_Ring_

_Ring_

_Ring_

"Hello?" Momo's small voice answered her phone.

"Momo? It's Rukia," Rukia said this in a very serious tone. There was a small silence. Then, unexpectedly, Momo screamed into the phone. Less than a second later, Rukia had joined Momo with the extensive screaming. It had lasted maybe about a minute or two before the pair began actually talking.

"I can't believe," Rukia said with excitement, "I just can't believe you said yes! I didn't think you would've said yes!"

"To tell you the truth, I don't know why I said yes!" Rukia heard the shock and thrill in her voice though the phone. "But something just told me to say yes," Rukia heard Momo sigh, "I guess it's worth giving him a shot. I mean, why not?"

"That's exactly what I thought you'd say," Rukia said, "I knew you'd at least give him a chance. Besides, you two look so good together!"

"Oh, you and Ichigo will be together by the end of the dance," Rukia pictured Momo smirking into the phone, and she instantly retaliated.

"Bet you and your precious Shiro-chan will defiantly be together before the dance!"

"You and that strawberry will kiss for sure during the dance!

"YOU AND TOSHIRO WILL HAVE SEX THE NIGHT OF!" Rukia screamed into the phone. There was a gasp from Momo, followed by a silence.

"Rukia, you did _not_ just go there," said Momo. Rukia could decipher the seriousness in Momo's voice and found it hilarious and decided to push her friend a little farther.

"Oh, I went there Momo," Rukia sneered, "and I bet you will get pregnant by winter."

"At least Toshiro would have the balls to knock me up, unlike that soul-less ginger that you worship"

Rukia was ticked now, her face turning red and her temper reaching boiling point. "First of all, Ichigo is _not_ a ginger, he's a strawberry," her voice was raising in volume with each sentence. "Secondly, I don't worship him," she was yelling into the phone. "AND LASTLY, I KNOW ICHIGO WILL KNOCK ME UP THE SECOND I ASK HIM!" she screamed into the phone, not hearing the sound of the front door slamming, indicating that her brother was now in the house, and had just heard the bit about Ichigo knocking her up.

"Rukia Kuchiki, get down here this instant," Rukia jumped at the sound of her brother's voice, not knowing if he had heard her or not. His voice was low but menacing.

"Oh shit, Nii-sama heard me," she whispered into the phone. "Talk to you later, Momo," she quickly hung up and stood up and headed downstairs to her doom.

"Sit." He ordered his sister, pointing to the couch. Rukia sat, feeling her brother's cold gaze on her. She was afraid to look him in his cold grey eyes that pierced her.

"I would like to know exactly what you said when I walked in the door," his voice was calm, but Rukia could sense the anger that he was really angry.

"Nii-sama," she started, "I was talking to Hinamori, and we were talking about boys and it just kind of…" her voice trailed away as her brother interrupted.

"Regardless the context, I never want to hear something like that coming out of your mouth again. I am forbidding you from seeing that boy ever again." Byakuya stated this with as much emotion as a rock.

"Wait, does this mean I can't go to the dance?" her heart was pounding in her chest.

"You may absolutely not even think about going to the dance with that boy. I told you, I didn't like him, and you should know why," and with that, he turned around and left Rukia sitting there, astonished.

She sat there, stunned by what had just happened. She slowly got up and trudged upstairs to her room, feeling heaviness in her heart.

It had been about an hour after lunch with his friends and Ichigo couldn't have been more bored in his life. He was on his bed, his headphones on his ears, blasting music. With Renji and Rangiku sucking each other's face and Toshiro asking out Momo, he didn't know what to do about Rukia.

His phone vibrated, indicating he just got a text. He picked up the phone, the screen telling him that it was Rukia who had just texted him. He smiled to himself and opened the message.

"_Hey, got bad news"_

'Bad news?' he thought to himself as he replied

"_Spill"_

"_Nii-sama banned me from seeing you ever again."_

"_What the hell? How'd he do that?"_

"_he's nii-sama. He can do anything"_

"_I see your point. Why?"_

"_I was talking to Momo about Toshiro and your name was mentioned and he heard it and banned me from seeing you."_

"_Wait, you must have said something really bad to get him upset, what'd you do?"_

"_Not important! This means no dance. Sorry :("_

"_Screw that, I'll figure out a way to sneak you out."_

"_I'll come to your funeral."_

"_Haha, just give me a few hours and I'll figure out something."_

"_Fine, just get me to the dance without using a flare gun."_

"_Damn it, you just crushed my idea."_

"_No flare guns!"_

"_Fine, I'll get you there without one then. It would've been easier."_

"_Good, it'll make you think. Gotta go, bye."_

"_See you later."_

Ichigo closed his phone, smiling to himself. He had to figure out a way to sneak Rukia out of her house without her brother realizing she was gone.

He cranked up his music and closed his eyes, his brain trying to think of a way to get her out of the house. Then the song "Girls just wanna have fun" by Cyndi Lauper turned on his iPod. After about a minute of listening to the song, he sat up and grabbed his phone and dialed up Orihime.

"Hello? Kurosaki-kun?" her voice was distinct by the bubbliness in it.

"Hey Inoue, I've got a favor to ask you," said Ichigo, his palms sweating, not knowing if she would be willing to do it.

"Sure, what is it?"

"Well, Rukia's brother won't let her go to the dance with me…"


	5. Heaven's Dance

**Hey guys! Again, Kind of a shorter chapter, but that's because I haven't updated. Thanks for the reviews! I appreciate them and love all the support! Where were we last time… Oh, Byakuya was being an ass and banned Rukia… Enjoy the Chapter!**

It was 6 p.m. and Ichigo still hadn't contacted Rukia ever since she had told him the news about her brother banning him. If he didn't have a plan, she was going to kick his ass. She was in her bed, starring at the celling, absolutely bored out of her mind. If she was going to the dance, she would've been getting ready right about now. She wanted to scream at her brother for forcing her not to go the dance and not see Ichigo ever again. He was the one who had given her the dress that her sister wore. She was just getting up to give him a piece of her mind when she felt her phone vibrate. She picked it up and opened it, reading it.

"_Rukia, Get your dress and make-up and hide it in a bag. I'll be there in 5 minutes. When I get there, play along and bring the bag. Orihime."_

Rukia had to read the message again, wondering what the hell she was talking about. She knew Orihime was a little insane sometimes, but she really couldn't figure out what was going to happen. Regardless, she had to do what it said.

She grabbed a black bag and grabbed all of her make up, and her sisters dress with her shoes. She was just done packing everything when the doorbell rang. She got up but she was too late, her brother had answered the door.

"Oh, hello Mr. Kuchiki," said Orihime, a smile on her face, "I was here to pick up Rukia for our slumber party."

"Ah, I see. Rukia did not tell me about this." He turned to his sister who was heading down the stairs with the bag.

She was still confused as to what Orihime was planning but thanks to her excellent acting skills, she didn't look it.

"Sorry nii-sama," she said, "we just planned it today."

"Right, we should go, Rukia," smiled Orihime, "We need to head to Momo's for the party."

"Rukia, I don't want you to have too much fun now," Byakuya smiled only slightly, giving Rukia shivers.

"Haha," she gave the most realistic laugh she could, "I'll see you tomorrow."

Rukia got in the car and waited for them to turn the corner to talk to Orihime in fear of her brother possibly reading their lips.

"WHAT THE HELL, ORIHIME?" she shouted at her friend right as they turned. To Rukia's surprise, she just laughed and smiled.

"Honestly Rukia," she giggled as Rukia just sat there, "I thought you were smart."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" she said, anger bubbling up.

"Isn't it obvious? The dress, the make-up? I just saved you from missing the night of your night."

Rukia sat there, still confused.

"Rukia!" she exclaimed, "I'm taking you to get ready for the dance!"

Rukia looked at her friend. So many questions were spiraling through her head.

"How…Who… How did you find out?" her mouth was slightly open as she looked dumbfounded at her friend while she watched her giggle.

"Last night Kurosaki-kun told me about your brother and asked me to pick you up. I then came up with the idea of the slumber party. We're going to my place to get ready."

Rukia's mouth dropped. She knew Ichigo would have thought of a good plan, but she hadn't expected him to figure out something this good. She made a mental note to thank Ichigo.

"Orihime, you are possibly the best person ever."

It was 7:15. Ichigo was in his suit, sitting on his bed. Orihime had texted him that sneaking Rukia out of was a success and that Byakuya wouldn't suspect anything. It had been awhile and Orihime and Rukia were supposed to be there fifteen minutes ago. He sighed as he looked at the clock on his wall, now indicating that it was 7:16. He rolled his eyes and fell on his back, wishing that they would get there. He had requested for Orihime to text him when they got there, incase his father was ready with a camera. His phone vibrated and his heart rate went up. He flipped the phone open and opened the message.

"_I'll see you at the dance, good luck with Kuchiki and save a dance for me."_

Ichigo scowled and closed his phone. It was Yoruichi, being annoying. He didn't exactly want to dance with her, seeing that Kisuke might rip him limb from limb if he did.

His phone went off again. Picking it up angrily, he opened it up, expecting a cutesy message from Yoruichi.

"_here"_

Ichigo's heart was pounding as he raced down the stairs and out the door. He was making sure he wasn't looking flustered, brushing down his suit when he looked up.

Then, he saw her.

Ichigo had never seen anything as beautiful as the girl in front of him. Her hair was sleek and was down. She was in a beautiful and silky dark blue dress that went down to her ankles, a white sash around her waist, accenting her curves wonderfully. He gazed at her, not realizing that he was standing halfway between the house and her. He saw her laugh and watched her walk towards him, linking arms with him and basically dragging him towards the car where Orihime was waiting.

"Ichigo, are you listening?" her voice was distant but he finally realized that she was trying to talk to him. He grunted in response.

"Baka!" she yelled, hitting him jokingly on the head.

"Oi!" he grabbed her hand and he saw her blush.

"I was saying that we could hang out after because nii-sama thinks that I'm at a sleep over."

"Yeah, that sounds fine, we could go out for dinner afterwards," he said this and the white rose that was in his pocket was beginning to stab him due to the bumps from the car.

He pulled it out and looked at Rukia's stunningly violet eyes and held out the rose towards her.

"Here, I thought this would go with your hair," he said this and gave it to her, seeing that she was blushing madly, placing it in her hair.

"Thanks Ichigo," she smiled and turned her head to look out the window to avoid the awkwardness.

It was only about 20 minutes to the mansion where the dance was being held, and Rukia and Orihime were talking just about the whole time with the occasional comment from Ichigo.

They had arrived at the mansion, Ichigo getting out first to help Rukia out of the car and towards the huge house. Ichigo still couldn't believe this was all happening. He was wearing a monkey suit and was with the most beautiful girl he'd ever seen in the world with his arms linked with hers. He was walking steadily, but realized that Rukia was struggling to keep up due to her height. Ichigo chuckled to himself and gradually slowed down. Orihime was walking next to them; Ichigo assumed that she was looking for Uryuu.

They reached the entrance of the mansion, the doors open. Inside was a magnificent hall, ivory and midnight blue seemed to be the colors that was the theme.

Ichigo had spotted Uryuu before Orihime did. He was wearing a white suit with a silk blue tie. The colors suited him well, thought Ichigo. He had a feeling that Uryuu would wear something like that.

"Ishida-kun!" Orihime practically screamed in Ichigo's ear when she had spotted him. Ichigo saw her run towards him, instantly linking arms with him. Ishida looked less than surprised at her reaction.

"Hey Ichigo?" said Rukia, looking up at him, "You _do _know how dance, right?"

Ichigo almost stopped in his tracks. He never once thought about it. He had seen it in movies and stuff so it couldn't be that hard.

"Yeah, what do you take me for?" he responded, hoping she wouldn't see the lie.

"Alright, just making sure so you don't make a fool of yourself, strawberry," she laughed and put her hands up as if to say that she was innocent.

It was then that he realized that there was music. A waltz. So that's why she asked. She wanted to dance now. Damn, he was screwed. He looked around and saw that Orihime and Ishida were already on the floor, dancing gracefully to the music. The pair looked like they had been doing this for years now. They moved perfectly in sync with the music, spinning around, not hesitating or messing up. Ichigo could see that Orihime was having the time of her life with Ishida, smiling and laughing while she danced with him. He pictured in his mind's eye what it would be like to dance with Rukia. To see her smiling, laughing while he led her perfectly to the music.

"Oi, Ichigo!" a familiar voice snapped him out of his fantasy. He turned around to see a tall woman with dark skin. Ichigo saw Yoruichi was wearing a strapless orange dress that went down to her shins.

"Yoruichi!" exclaimed Rukia. She rushed to Yoruichi who was smiling and hugging her. Kisuke was right behind Yoruichi, wearing a green tuxedo.

"Yo, Ichigo," said Kisuke, "you are one lucky guy."

"It's not like you don't have it bad," laughed Ichigo, looking at the two women talking to each other, giggling and laughing.

"She's a real beauty, Yoruichi. Glad I get to spend the rest of my life with her," Kisuke sighed happily and watched more and more couples entering the dance hall.

Ichigo eventually tuned out Kisukes's comments and started to eaves-drop on Yoruichi and Rukia.

"Yeah, I can do that for you, Rukia," Yoruichi nodded and looked towards Ichigo and to his surprise, she winked. He felt a blush trying to creep up on his face. He saw Yoruichi laugh and head towards him.

"Kisuke, I'm going to borrow Ichigo for abit," she said this to him and took Ichigo by the arm and dragged him on the dance floor before a stunned Urahara could even say a word.

"Yoruichi, what the hell are you doing?" Ichigo looked at her, his eyes wide.

"Ichigo, shut up, I'm teaching you how to dance before you make a fool of yourself in front of Rukia," she eyed him, watching his face turn from shock to understanding. "Now, I want you to put your right hand on my shoulder and the left on my waist."

Ichigo did a double take at the word waist. The shoulder, he could deal with but the waist was a little too intimate. He placed his hand on her shoulder but was resistant to put the other on her midriff.

"Ichigo, I'm trying to help you. Now put your hand on my waist or I will make sure you won't have a hand left!" she scowled playfully and forced his hand on her waist. He blushed madly as he felt the curve of her beautifully sculpted body.

"Come on Yoruichi," he muttered, "Rukia's right there."

"Calm down," she brushed off the comment like dirt, "we already discussed it. Now, follow my lead. Now, step forward and…"

Ichigo followed her instructions carefully, making sure he didn't mess up or look at his feet. It was actually quite simple, like a box. Soon, he caught on, dancing with Yoruichi like it was the most natural thing next to breathing. He was leading Yoruichi on the dance floor, trying not to smile, incase Rukia saw him.

"Ichigo, you're amazing!" giggled Yoruichi, smiling as she was guided by Ichigo.

"Yoruichi, I think it's about time I started to dance with my date," said Ichigo, looking towards Rukia, who was watching Orihime and Ishida dancing, a sense of longing to dance on her face.

"I agree. Don't mess this up, Ichigo," she winked and let go of him and ran towards Rukia. Her eyes lit up and walked towards Ichigo, her eyes sparkling. Ichigo noticed that there were many more people on the dance floor than before. He saw many of his friends, including Toshiro and Momo, who were dancing slowly but with just as much grace as most of the other people dancing.

"So, Yoruichi taught you how to dance?" she smirked as she put her hands on his shoulder and held his other.

"Baka, she was just refreshing my memory," He laughed and held her waist, and started waltzing with her slowly, but comfortably.

"I'm sure strawberry. I also think she was reminding you how not to mess this up?" she questioned him as he lead her around, spinning her lightly and easily to the music.

"I'm pretty sure that you'd be the one to mess up out of the two of us, you klutz," he smirked down at her and winced as she stepped on his foot. "Oi, what are you playing at?"

"Whoops," she giggled sarcastically, "I guess I'm just clumsy.

"Clumsy my ass," he snapped playfully, "If you weren't so cute I'd kick you!"

Ichigo almost stopped dancing as he realized what he just said, his face now burning. He looked down at the midget in front of him, seeing that she too was blushing.

"You think I'm cute, eh strawberry?" she tried to glare at him but it seemed to fail.

"Psh," his red face wasn't helping him try to figure out something to say, "I guess."

Rukia shrugged the comment off and continued to dance with Ichigo. It was difficult to dance considering that she was much shorter than he was, but she wasn't about to let that ruin her night. She looked over and saw that Momo and Toshiro had arrived. He was wearing a teal suit with a dark blue tie and she was wearing a light pink dress with her hair down. She noticed that Toshiro looked like he was going to vomit while dancing with Momo. She made a mental note to kick his ass for looking like that while dancing with Momo. She laughed to herself and continued to look around the room. She saw Rangiku with Renji, wearing a red dress that showed a significant amount of cleavage to the point of most men in the room were looking at her, mouths open. Renji had his hair down, not the greatest look considering all of the tattoos that he covered himself with. Other than that, he had on a brown tux that suited him well. Rukia saw that he was staring at Rangiku's chest and felt the need to go smack him. Then she noticed something unusual.

"Hey Ichigo," she looked up at him as he continued to waltz, "can we sit down for a moment?"

"Sure," he said, "my feet hurt like hell."

They Walked to the nearest table, gaining a good view of the dancers. Rukia looked around, trying to find him again. She spent quite some time looking for the tall figure when she found him. He had a silvery suit on with a green tie. He had his hair pulled back in a ponytail.

"Ichigo, is that who I think it is?" she nudged him, trying to confirm the strangers identity.

"Which one?" he questioned, squinting his eyes.

"Silver suit, pony tail and black hair?" she nodded her head in the direction of the man she was talking about.

"Oh him…," he said, his brow furrowed in thought, "I…I think…" Rukia saw his eyes grow wide and look at her then back at the man. "Ulquiorra?"

"That's what I thought! Do you have any idea what he's doing here?"

"No clue," he shrugged but then realized something. "Wait a second… Toshiro said something about Ulquiorra liking Orihime. I wonder if that's why he's here…"

"If that's why he's here, then I'm getting worried about Ishida…" she looked over to Uryuu and Orihime, still dancing. She noticed that Ulquiorra was eyeing the pair, scowling.

"I don't think that Ulquiorra would do anything rash. Probably just talk to Orihime," he said, looking at Rukia, seeing the worry in her eyes. "Don't worry, if he tries anything, I'll make sure he doesn't do anything to hurt anyone."

Rukia nodded and continued to watch them. She then looked at a large clock and realized it had already been two hours since they had arrived, even though it seemed like it had been a half hour. Suddenly, she saw Ichigo stand up, look around and felt him grab her hand.

"Ichigo," she started, but she was cut off when he guided her to a flight of stairs. She saw portraits of older people that looked like they were in pain. She smiled inwardly as she was dragged.

"Knew it," she heard Ichigo mutter when they got to the top of the stairs. She stared at the view in front of her. There was a small room, a golden glow to it. A small table that was also gold, seated for two. Behind the table was a balcony that had an excellent view of the sky above them.

"Ichigo…" she breathed out, amazed at the room before her, "Ichigo, how did you…"

"I know some people," he smirked and held her hand. Her heart was racing, pounding hard and felt like it was about to burst right out of her chest. The feeling of Ichigo's large, warm and calloused hand was sending shivers down her spine. She then felt the chill of cool air on her skin and realized that they were now on the balcony. She looked up and saw Ichigo looking up at the stars.

"It's beautiful," he breathed, continuing to stare at the star filled sky. Rukia looked up and sighed as she saw the scene above her was indeed beautiful. She nearly jumped when she felt his hand on her back, quickly pulling her towards him. Her heart stopped.

"Ichigo…" she whispered as she looked at him. His eyes were soft yet determined, as if his goal was right in front of him. This was all happening so fast, she didn't want to rush it but then she felt the soft lips that belonged to the man in front of her meet her own.

It was soft, blissful and magical. Her eyes slowly closed as she began to kiss him back with all the passion she could possibly muster. She stood on her tip toes, wrapping her arms around his neck; her head craning back in order to keep their lips locked. Just as she was about to break the kiss, there was a loud bang and the sound of breaking glass followed by a medley of screams. She quickly broke the kiss and instantly bolted towards the stairs, hearing Ichigo's loud footsteps close behind her. As she reached the bottom of the steps, she saw a crowd of people around the dance floor and blood. Everywhere.

How did you Like it? What the hell is going on! I still have a lot to write… I don't have a lot of ideas, so shoot them out towards me. ALSO, I'm still working on Music Souls, if you're interested in that one. It's IchiRuki and some other pairings. I'll Update soon!


	6. Dramatization and Hospitalization

**Hello there! Sorry for not updating sooner! I had a lot going on and a HUGE writing block. I hope that you'll enjoy this chapter. Lots and lots of drama (kinda) and stuff like that. I'll update on Musical Souls because that one has actually gotten pretty far and I have another fic that I'm working on right now. I do not own Bleach, It belongs to Tite Kubo.**

There he was. Ishida was on the ground, holding his nose, giving Ulquiorra a menacing look that looked like he was about to murder him. Ichigo saw that from the waist down, Ulquiorra's suit was blood stained, bits of glass still in his stomach. Though it looked like Ulquiorra had gained more damage, but it was Ishida on the ground.

"Rukia, you wait here," Ichigo said, stepping away from her, about to see if he could stop the fight. Ishida was a close friend and he didn't want to see him get hurt. He didn't know Ulquiorra as well but all the same, he didn't want things to get worse for either of them.

"Ichigo, I know what you said, I know you want to protect everyone, but I'm not about to have you spill blood tonight," Rukia said, looking like she was on the verge of the tears as she saw Ishida slowly get up to lunge towards Ulquiorra with sharp glass in his hand, aiming for Ulquiorras stomach.

Ichigo ignored this and ran through the crowd, pushing over many people in order to stop the fight. Rukia saw Ichigo step in front of Ishida. She let out a loud scream as she saw the long, sharp piece of glass slice into Ichigo's stomach, blood now staining his suit. He winced and glared at Ishida who looked stunned to see Ichigo in front of him instead of his target.

"Ishida, what the hell is happening?" He looked at him, his eyes fiery and filled with anger. He didn't seem to realize how deep the wound was, nor how much blood he was losing. Ichigo's blood was dripping from the glass onto the floor, making a rather large puddle.

"Kurosaki," Ichigo turned around to see that Ulquiorra's was looking at him, slightly annoyed, "This is not your fight, don't get involved." Ulquiorra's eyes were cold and without concern or what just happened in front of him, or that he too, was losing blood just as fast as Ichigo was.

"Shut up, Ulquiorra," Ichigo snapped, turning his head to meet Ulquiorra's cold gaze. He could see that he was indeed intruding on a fight that wasn't his, but at this point, all he wanted to do was stop blood from spilling, even if he had to shed some blood himself. He could hear the sound of Rukia trying to fight her way through the crowd. He knew she had seen him already but he didn't want her to see anymore because he knew deep down that Ishida wasn't about to stop trying to kill Ulquiorra, even if he had to hurt Ichigo.

"I said, Ishida, what the hell happed?" he turned back to Ishida, the bit of glass still in his stomach.

"I simply asked Miss Inoue to dance and she agreed, but he attacked after a while." Said Ulquiorra, shrugged. "He punched me and I punched him back, then he broke a bottle and stabbed me."

Ichigo turned and saw that Momo, Rangiku, Tatsuki and Rukia were all surrounded a crying Orihime. Her hands were in her face and she seemed to be in a wreck. Orihime and Ichigo were pretty close, always friends and never got into fights. There was a time when Orihime had a crush on Ichigo for the longest time, but he was to blunt to notice it. Now that he looked back, he could clearly see exactly how much she liked him. But still, he hated when he saw his friends get hurt, but even worse when his friends hurt each other.

"You were getting to close for comfort! She's my date and you have no right to steal her away from me, you bastard!" roared Ishida, standing up, pulling the shard of glass out of Ichigo, sharply. He felt the pain and grabbed the now speeding bit of glass with his hand, feeling it impale his hand, blood now spilling from there as well.

"Ishida! Stop, this isn't like you!" Ichigo yelled in his face as Ishida pulled out the glass and tried to stab again, but was blocked by Ichigo, but with this time it was with his chest, extremely close to his heart. 'Fuck, that can't be good, Rukia will kill me if I die tonight.'

"Ichigo, move!" Ishida roared and in an instant he was now on the verge of killing not only Ulquiorra, but anyone who got in the way.

He heard Rukia scream, he saw the room spinning then he felt the floor collide with his head and felt hot sticky blood poor from his chest, shoulder, stomach and head.

_ 'Damn,' _Ichigo thought to himself, _'Rukia is really going to kill me now…' _and with that, all Ichigo could see was blackness, hearing the screams of girls and what seemed like men trying to break up the fight. The last thing he heard was the voice of Rukia, telling him not to die on her and he thought he could have heard her call him a baka. Then he faded into the darkness, not knowing, not thinking, just simply being there, otherwise known as a coma.

Ichigo sat up, dazed and confused. What the hell had just happened? He tried to remember what was going on. He remembered dancing with Yoruichi and Rukia and the kiss but everything else was just a blur of colors and sounds. He soon realized that he had just moved a small body that was on top of him, now sprawled across the floor. Ichigo took a look around, making a note to himself and wondering where the hell he was. He was in a small room, stark white, a single window and a rather old looking television hung from the upper corner of the room. Damn, he was in a hospital, not sure how he got there. He felt his chest, wrapped in bandages, along with his hand and lower area. If he moved to much, he was subject to pain. He looked down to see that the thing that he had pushed off of him was Rukia. He instantly realized that she wasn't in her dress, but clothes that she had borrowed from him about a year ago. She sat up, and looked at him as if seeing him for the first time in a thousand years.

"Ichi…Ichigo…" her eyes began to fill with tears as she wrapped her arms around his neck, nuzzling into his chest. He could feel her shaking on him. He instantly put his hands around her, holding her as she cried.

"Rukia…" he started, then remembering the events of the dance, "Where's Orihime? Ishida? Ulquiorra?" he looked around as if to see them there.

"Ichigo…" she mumbled into his chest, "Ichigo, it's been four days since the dance."

Had it really been four days? It seemed like he had only blinked.

"What happened…?"

"After you fell, Ishida attacked Ulquiorra and a fight broke out," she said, her voice cracking slightly, "Toshiro and Renji joined the fight and Chad helped me get you out of there. After that, I heard that Ulquiorra and Ishida were kicked out and Orihime was still in shock about what had happened. We rushed you to the hospital and…" she stopped and looked at Ichigo, tears falling fast down her face, "Ichigo, it's a miracle that you're here, alive."

He looked at her and wiped her tears with his good hand smiled, kissing her forehead. "Sorry to worry you, midget."

"If you weren't injured enough, I'd smack you so hard," she smiled and laughed as he flinched. He was relieved to see that she was ok enough to still consider hitting him senseless.

"How's Orihime doing?" he asked, brushing some hair out of his eyes.

Rukia looked down towards the ground and mumbled.

"Rukia, what's going on?" he raised an eyebrow, giving her a quizzical look.

"She's alright. We've talked to her quite a bit…" her voice trailed off as she saw the look on Ichigo's face that said something like, oh really now?

"Come on Rukia," he stated sternly, "What the hell is wrong with Orihime?

"Ichigo, you wouldn't understand!" she complained, sighing at his stupidity.

"Oh, and what wouldn't I understand about it?

"It's…" she tried to find a good way to explain it, "it's just a girl thing." Damn she hoped that would work.

"Girl thing? That's not the first time I've heard that. Now tell me what the hell is going on with Orihime before I go ballistic on you, midget!" he was getting rather loud while trying to get answers from Rukia.

Rukia rolled her eyes then looked back to a scowl on Ichigo's very handsome face. "You promise not to freak out if I tell you, Berry boy?"

"Yeah, yeah, just tell me what's wrong with her."

"She's… she's going out with Ulquiorra…" she whispered closing her eyes, shaking her head slightly.

"She's what?" he turned his head and yelped in pain, instantly reverting to lying down again.

"I told you not to freak out!" she glared at him.

"How can I not freak out? After all that's happened…" his voice slowly died off.

"I know she's ridiculous. She's so mad at Uryuu for hurting you and I guess that Ulquiorra was there for her, and…"

"I can't believe this…" he held his head, trying to get everything straight in his very confused mind.

"Ichigo…" she breathed, looking up at him, her eyes sparkling from the recent tears, "Ichigo…I…I love you."

"I love you too, Rukia." He smiled and leaned in to kiss her. It was like their first one, soft, passionate, loving. He locked lips with hers, feeling tears fall from her face onto his chest.

"MY SON IS IN LOOOOOVE!" A loud boom from the door being opened with a great amount of force quickly interrupted their moment by Ichigo's father. They quickly parted, both of them blushing madly. A fist hit Isshin Kurosaki's face dead on.

"Fast as ever, son!" exclaimed his overly excited father, smiling widely like an idiot.

"What kind of father does that to their son?" he asked in annoyance, the blush now fading away.

"It's not every day that I get to see my son in an intimate moment with a girl!" he said in a sing song voice that made Ichigo want to vomit.

"It's not every day you get to see Ichigo with a girl at all," he heard the annoyed voice of his younger sister, Karin followed by her twin, Yuzu.

"Karin, that's not very nice to Onii-chan," Yuzu pouted and hugged her brother tightly, crying slightly. Ichigo smiled and hugged Yuzu.

"Well, I guess I should be leaving now so I'll just be on my way…" her voice trailed as she was attacked by Mr. Kurosaki.

"Stay Miss Kuchiki! I don't want to see my future daughter-in-law to leave because we're having a family moment!" Isshin embraced Rukia as she was just about to leave. Her face looked like she was a deer in headlights. A deer that was in the headlights of a monster truck driven by Isshin Kurosaki.

"Future daughter?" Ichigo bellowed and tried to lunge towards his father, resulting in him crumbling in pain, back on the bed.

"Yes future daughter! Oh Masaki, You and I have both waited for the moment when our little strawberry would reproduce and give me tons and tons of little children running around!"

"Dad, when I'm better, you better watch your ass." Growled Ichigo, a murderous intent etched on his face.

"Son! You must embrace your love with Miss Rukia! Make me grandchildren at once!"

"You idiot!" Ichigo screamed as he again tried to sit up, but only causing more pain.

"Dad, that's not appropriate at all," scolded Yuzu, frowning at her father. She was still hugging Ichigo, half forcing him down to ensure that no further harm could come to him.

"Oh Yuzu! You're poor and innocent mind hasn't been exposed to such impurities such as the meaning of sex!" shouted Isshin, causing Karin to kick him in the stomach, glaring down at him.

"Is it me, Ichi-nii," Karin said as she was done glaring at her poor excuse of a father, "or has dad really lost it when it comes to parenting?"

Rukia had difficulty suppressing a laugh, covering her mouth and looking away from the grown man on the floor.

"I didn't really think that he had any knowledge when it comes to parenting in the first place, Karin," he said to Karin who laughed heartily with her brother.

Rukia inwardly smiled to herself as she saw Ichigo and his two sisters. She never really had a close relationship with Byakuya because of age difference and the fact that he was busy being the head of the Kuchiki franchises. She had always wanted to have a relationship with him like Karin and Yuzu did with Ichigo. She remembered vaguely of when she and Hisana would go in the front yard and play together, laughing and smiling. She remembered when she first met Byakuya, thinking he would be a stuck up guy who wasn't fun enough for someone like Hisana, but she soon found out that he was a kind, gentle person when it came to being with Hisana. She was pretty young when Hisana got married to Byakuya and barely remembered that she herself was the flower girl at their wedding. But one memory that stood out to her was when Hisana had died along with her parents, after all, she saw all three of them die right in front of her. They had gotten into a terrible car crash after a lovely dinner at a very fancy restaurant. Her parents were instantly killed but Hisana was injured pretty badly. She could remember the flashing lights of the ambulance, the sound of people rushing towards them. She saw Hisana on the ground, looking up to Byakuya and herself, smiling. Byakuya was holding her hand, crying hard with Rukia. She heard Hisana say, 'Byakuya, I love you. Please take care of Rukia like your own sister. And Rukia, please behave with Byakuya, trouble maker. I love you both.'

"Oi Rukia," she heard the sound of Ichigo's voice coming from a distance, "You alright? You've been crying. I told you, I'm fine."

She hadn't realized she had started crying because of the painful memories that she had because of her past. She quickly wiped the tears from her face and smirked at Ichigo.

"I'm fine, idiot. Just glad that you're ok."

"Good, I knew you cared about me," he smiled devilishly and laughed.

"Psh, I just didn't want to have to find another punching bag is all, Strawberry," she laughed as she saw the anger rise in his face, seeing a blush tint his cheeks.

"Hey!" he scowled, "if anyone's the punching bag here, it's you, midget!"

"Ha, you and I both know that you wouldn't dare hit a girl," she teased him, laughing to herself while witnessing the guy in front of her have a hissy fit over nothing.

"That's right, Ichigo," said Karin, glaring at him, "if you hit a girl, ever, you'd never hear the end of it from me."

"Oh, shut up Karin," Ichigo rolled his eyes, "you're just saying that."

Karin gave a glare to him and he instantly apologized. Rukia laughed and looked at her phone, realizing that it was already 2:35. She was five minutes late. Damn, if she hurried, she could get home by 2:45, about the time that Byakuya said he would be back. He'd kill her if she wasn't there before him.

Rukia looked out of the window, seeing Momo's car right outside. She smiled and looked at the Kurosaki's in front of her. Isshin had been like an uncle to her, always kind and sometimes a bit crazy but with the right intentions. Yuzu and Karin were like sisters or cousins to her. She always felt like a role model to them, Karin picking up on the more violent and assertive side and Yuzu took the kinder side. And Ichigo… Ichigo was like a very close brother, but also a friend, but now she felt very differently of him. About 2 weeks ago, she would have described him as a tall, fun, an idiot, annoying and a strawberry. Now if you asked her about Ichigo, she would say that he was handsome, tall, sweet, an idiot, sexy and a strawberry. Without the Kurosaki's in her life, she had no idea where she might be at this point.

"Yo Ichigo," she turned to face the strawberry who was wrestling with his younger sisters, "I gotta fly. I'll see you later."

"Yeah, I'll see you later midget," he laughed as Karin had attacked him from behind while Rukia had temporarily distracted him. She laughed at this and headed out the door, quickly giving Mr. Kurosaki a hug. She was very thankful to have all of them in her life.

**Well? How was it? Probably not worth the wait. But I have inspiration for the next chapter because it's basically almost done! In the future there MAY be a failed attempt lemon. My new fic will be posted once the first chapter is done and that will be awhile because it will be one very long chapter, probably around 7,000 something words perhaps, if I can get that far. I hope so! I keep writing crappy and short chapters, but I'm getting better. I swear, I'll update sooner!**


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